Saddam Hussein

Yesterday I saw the video clip of Saddam's execution and somewhat it creates a goosebump to see the fact that Saddam was hanged to death. The former powerful Iraqis leader was hung on December, 30th 2006, followed by the execution of his affiliates, Barzan Ibrahim (SaddamÂ’s half-brother) and Awad Hamed Al-Bandar (the former chief justice of the Revolutionary Court). Saddam was quite calm that day, wearing a black suit, hat and shoes, rather than prison garb, his hat was removed and his hands tied shortly before the noose was slipped around his neck. In a final moment of defiance, he refused a hood to cover his eyes.

Check out the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2Ju780cf0E

The full execution clip, that I thought was taken by a mobile phone camera, lasted around 2 minutes was kind of tiring to watch. The shot was not steady and bit blur (low resolution, probably...). I held my breath on the moment the sounds of wood cracking on his fall and later on saw his broken neck and wide eyes opened... Is this a fair punishment for him and for Iraqis? Some people say "yes", some say "no". I guess, now all the victimsÂ’ families will be happy because Saddam got his just sentence, even though by the death of Saddam won't replace any life that has been taken. Nevertheless, conflicts are stiloccurreded in Iraq, between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, and between Iraqis in general and the America forces. It's common that even a devil has fans...

Richard Dawkins statement on "Saddam should have been studied, not executed" posted in LA Times is also quite interesting. He said that Hussein's mind would have been a unique resource for historical, political and psychological research, a resource that is now forever unavailable to scholars. Well, it's cool to know what was going on in his mind... He also added that Saddam should have been locked up, by all means. Kept him in jail for the rest of his life, to be sure. But to execute him was irresponsible. Hussein could have provided irreplaceable help to future historians of the Iran-Iraq war, of the invasion of Kuwait and of the subsequent era of sanctions culminating in the invasion.

Mmmmmhhhh... what do you think?